Of particular interest is an antibody for a growth factor called IGF-1 that is related to the same biochemical pathway Erbitux hits.

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The component inhibits stinging cells from firing by interfering with several stages of their biochemical pathway, from the sensing mechanism through to reducing the pressure in the cells.

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The trick Dr Chiang and his colleagues used was to suppress the activity of one of the genes in the biochemical pathway that trees employ to make lignin.

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These sites work as switches activating one biochemical pathway when they encounter the chemical signals of infectious agents, and a different one when they meet with those of an interloper organ.

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"Patenting big swaths of important biochemical pathway space has the potential to turn drug development into even more of an expensive nightmare than it already is, " pharmaceutical chemist Derek Lowe wrote in his blog, In The Pipeline, last month.

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The next trick, which Exxon's money will help pay for, is to tweak the biochemical pathway that makes the algal oil (which is known, technically, as a triglyceride, and has oxygen atoms in it as well as carbon and hydrogen) so that the oxygen-containing parts of the molecules are snipped off and a pure hydrocarbon is left.

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